A special education teacher who failed to report aides abusing students in her classroom can keep teaching Texas school children after State Board for Educator Certification members agreed to probate a sanction against her credentials.

The teacher, Dalois Leathaya Woodard, also engaged in unsafe physical contact with her students with special needs, according to an administrative law judge.

The judge recommended SBEC suspend Woodard’s certificate for one year but that the suspension should be probated.

The Texas Education Agency made the case to board members that an active suspension was a more appropriate penalty.

Woodard and her attorney argued that the teacher didn’t see the abuse and that losing her certification for a year would be “ruinous.”

SBEC members voted to probate the sanction on Woodard’s teaching certificate and simply require the teacher to complete additional training.

Background

Woodard was working for the Aldine Independent School District as the teacher of record in a Raymond Elementary special education classroom when the violations occurred in January 2022.

In June 2022, Aldine ISD administrators began investigating Woodard after a parent reported behavioral changes in a student and requested review of video footage.

Classroom video showed one of the paraprofessionals under Woodard’s supervision, Tambra Gipson, placing a trash bag over a student’s head and hitting students with a shoe. The classroom’s other aide was accused of spraying a student with disinfectant while under Woodard’s supervision.

In addition, Woodard herself admitted to carrying a non-verbal student across the classroom upside down by their feet.

The State Office of Administrative Hearings heard the case against Woodard on April 26 of this year—more than four years after the violations occurred.

The school’s assistant principal at the time, Sonia Crockett, testified that Woodard’s actions were inappropriate and confirmed the teacher had failed to report her aides’ physical mistreatment of students as required by law.

Woodard argued that she didn’t report the aides’ behavior because she didn’t see it.

The teacher said she resigned from Aldine ISD after meeting with administrators about the incidents because she “didn’t want to go through all the malarkey” and wanted to move on.

Woodard was hired by Spring ISD for the following school year and has worked there ever since as a teacher and athletic coach.

On June 12, 2026, Administrative Law Judge Katerina DeAngelo found TEA proved “by a preponderance of the evidence” that Woodard’s conduct violated the Texas Educators’ Code of Ethics by creating “an unnecessary risk” to a student’s physical safety and “fell below the reasonably prudent educator standard.”

TEA also proved that Woodard failed to comply with the state’s reporting requirements.

According to the judge, TEA failed to prove that Woodard threatened students with violence, was unworthy to supervise students, “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly” abused a student, or committed a Priority 1 offense that “presents a risk to the health, safety, or welfare of a student.”

Judge DeAngelo’s Proposal For Decision concluded that a “reasonable and proportionate sanction” was a one-year certification suspension, fully probated, conditioned on Woodard completing an eight-hour course in classroom management and/or professional boundaries.

SBEC Hearing

During a July 24 SBEC meeting, TEA staff argued that the gravity of Woodard’s violations warranted an active suspension in addition to more training.

TEA attorney Trevin Ware noted that Woodard works with “perhaps the most vulnerable population of students that we serve: students who receive special education services.”

“She received specialized training, in addition to the mandatory staff and faculty training, concerning this very matter: reporting suspected abuse,” said Ware.

Woodard’s attorney, Heather Castillo, told SBEC members that her client had been a “successful educator” in another district since the violations in Aldine ISD.

“This has been a nightmare of a situation for her,” said Castillo. “This has been looming over her for the last four years.”

“Ms. Woodard is adamant she did not see the two incidents that she is being punished for not reporting,” the attorney argued. “Was she in the room? Yes. Is she the teacher in charge? Yes. This was her second year of teaching, and she was thrown into this classroom … with this very challenging group of kids and these two paraprofessionals.”

“Suspending her, losing her certification, is going to be ruinous for her,” added Castillo.

A tearful Woodard told board members, “I couldn’t report anything I didn’t see,” adding, “I learned from my mistakes.”

Ware responded that Woodard “should have seen … That’s what she was charged with doing as someone who supervised the classroom.”

TEA Associate Commissioner Jessica McLoughlin agreed with Ware, citing the high level of public trust given to classroom teachers who work with the most vulnerable students.

“Our special educators are responsible for not only managing the students in the classroom, but also managing the other adults that are in that classroom,” said McLoughlin. “The behaviors that are described in these findings, from my perspective, are concerning.”

SBEC member Michael McFarland moved to reject the TEA staff recommendation and adopt the ALJ proposal for a probated sanction, allowing Woodard to continue teaching.

McFarland’s motion was seconded by board member Rex Gore and approved by the voting members present at the meeting.

SBEC and TEA

The State Board for Educator Certification and Texas Education Agency are separate entities, but each has a role in overseeing educator misconduct.

TEA receives educator misconduct reports, investigates allegations, and recommends actions to SBEC.

The 15-member board takes disciplinary action against educator certificates based on TEA’s investigation findings as well as recommendations from administrative law judges who hear contested cases.

SBEC was created by the Texas Legislature in 1995 to grant public school educators authority to govern standards of conduct within their profession. Board members are required to meet quarterly to conduct business.

Gov. Greg Abbott recently appointed two new SBEC members, Cassidy Estes and Kathy Ward, who will join the board at its September meeting.

Erin Anderson

Erin Anderson is a Senior Journalist for Texas Scorecard, reporting on state and local issues, events, and government actions that impact people in communities throughout Texas and the DFW Metroplex. A native Texan, Erin grew up in the Houston area and now lives in Collin County.